3. Circular Open Source Fashion

In a circular fashion economy, every thread lives many lives, garments are reborn, waste becomes wonder, and style cycles endlessly, while the linear model rushes beauty to the bin, leaving only loss behind.

What is circular fashion by the Sustainable Fashion Forum

Connectivity

Enables infinite creative possibilities by connecting mathematical rules of geometry and symmetry with artistic designs.

Research

1. Paco Rabane- Tessellations & Modular Geometries
2. Alexander McQueen- Geometry, Faceting, and Origami
3. Jean Paul Gaultier- Geometry through Structure & Illusion

Paco Rabanne, Alexander McQueen, and Jean Paul Gaultier each pushed geometry into fashion in radically different ways, offering a lineage of tessellation and form-making that continues to inspire experimental design today. Paco Rabanne’s iconic “space-age” dresses of the 1960s treated the body as a surface for modular tiling: discs, squares, and hexagons linked together like architectural tessellations. His approach demonstrated how repetition and connectivity could replace fabric entirely, creating garments as chains of geometric units.

Alexander McQueen, by contrast, used geometry to sculpt and exaggerate the body through faceting and origami-like folds. His garments often resembled crystalline surfaces, insect wings, or skeletal structures, applying symmetry, tessellations, and algorithmic patterns in three dimensions. Where Rabanne explored surface tiling, McQueen elevated geometry into volumetric architecture. Jean Paul Gaultier meanwhile, brought geometry into illusion and structure, from the rigid conical bustiers of Madonna’s stage costumes to striped and gridded fabrics that distorted the eye. His use of optical geometry and spiralling forms revealed how lines and repetition could reshape the perception of the body.

Together, these designers illustrate three powerful applications of tessellation and geometric thinking in fashion: modular construction (Rabanne), faceted architecture (McQueen), and optical/structural distortion (Gaultier). Their methods suggest opportunities for zero-waste, laser-cut design today, from modular tile assemblies to origami tessellations and striped cut layers that transform the silhouette while minimising waste.

Inspiration - Jisoo Jang ↗

Jisoo Jang is a Korean fashion designer and Central Saint Martins graduate whose work bridges sustainability, geometry, and sculptural form. Driven by the question of how fashion can exist without harming the planet, her collections explore modularity, transparency, and open structures, often incorporating mesh, cut-outs, and layered geometric volumes. Inspired by both organic systems and engineered patterns, Jang’s designs combine bold silhouettes with a philosophy rooted in reducing waste and rethinking material use. Her vision is not only aesthetic but also ethical, aiming to “make the future of the Earth happy” by aligning beauty with ecological responsibility.

More inspiration

Alves Lagercrantz & her work for this week and documentation on her Fabricademy website really helped me create my final product.

Especially her sampling: From looking at Alves Lagercrantz’s experiments, I learned that the size of the holes didn't affect elongation as much as the placement of the cuts. This insight really shaped how I approached my own kerfing tests.

I decided to focus less on complex patterns and more on experimenting with where and how the cuts were placed. Like Alves, I found that keeping the pattern simple gave me the freedom to adapt the material to my style. The process helped me understand what would work best for me, guiding me toward the kerf style I wanted to use in my final product.

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Tools

• Rhino
• Lightburn
• Paper & scissors

Process

Process Summary – Skirt Pattern in Rhino

I set up my Rhino file in millimetres and organised my workflow with layers: Guides, Slits, Outline, and Spiral.

1. Defining the skirt bounds

   • I drew two concentric circles at the origin: one for the waist opening (inner circle) and one for the hem edge (outer circle). In hindsight I should have made it smaller as the material has a lot of stretch.
   • I used the Distance command to check the diameters (approx. 260 mm waist, 600 mm hem).

2. Creating guide rings

   • Using TweenCurves, I generated a full set of evenly spaced concentric rings between the waist and hem.
   • These rings, placed on the Guides layer, gave me reference lines for spacing the slits.

3. Waist spiral (zero-waste opening)

   • At the centre, I drew a spiral with ~6 turns, running outwards until it reached the waist radius. Using the length of the diameter to create the measurements for the belt loops - length = radius, width = thickness of material. This spiral provides a zero-waste entry point into the garment.

4. Slit construction

   • I drew a line and another one parallel to it, and made them into another layer.
   • Used ArrayPolar to fit them around the circle, repeated the steps and added them to a new layer, leaving a 10 mm gap between each line.

5. Arraying slits around the ring

   • With ArrayPolar, I duplicated this slit evenly around the circle, using the centre point as the base.
   • The number of slits was calculated by dividing the ring circumference by the desired slit spacing.

6. Cleaning the pattern

   • Select all the blue lines first, with the purple layer, and press Trim to remove the gaps between the lines.
   • Repeat steps for red and black.
   • Now we have the cuts.

Variations Kerf & Belt Variations

1. Testing different kerf layouts

   • Began with the circular/oval slit arrangement radiating from the waist (Image 1).
   • Used ArrayPolar and concentric rings to build the mesh.
   • Played with spacing, angle staggering, and slit lengths to see how flexible/stretchable the pattern would become when worn.

2. Expanding to rectangular/oval bounds

   • Instead of cutting a perfect circle, I tried laying out the mesh inside a rectangle (the size of the laser bed).
   • This ensured the hem reaches the fabric edges, achieving zero waste while still preserving the circular drape when worn (Image 2).

3. Belt experiments

   • Started thinking about how to secure the skirt at the waist without sewing and also using the material on the inside of the circle.
   • Created a long rectangular strip with repeated slits (Image 3).
   • These can act as a laser-cut belt or fastening strap, either woven through the waist holes or threaded through the spiral opening.
   • Considered puzzle-lock edges for the belt ends so that they can slot into each other like a clasp (instead of buckles or stitching).

4. Iteration and prototyping mindset

   • Each variation allowed comparison of:
     • Density of the kerf pattern (tighter vs looser diamonds).
     • Flexibility (how much stretch is achieved).
     • Waste (ensuring cut-offs are minimised).

Prototype

Prototype Reflection – Spiral Skirt with Belt, Made from Scuba Material.

1. What worked

   • The kerf pattern cut cleanly and behaved as expected, giving flexibility and flow.
   • The spiral waist opening concept worked in principle.
   • Overall geometry aligned with the plan; skirt kept its structure and drape.

2. Challenges / adjustments needed

   • Spiral too big → wouldn’t fit the belt hole.
   • Belt-buckle slots mis-measured.

3. What’s next

   • Scale down the spiral so the waist opening matches the belt holes.
   • Re-draw the belt puzzle tabs with corrected dimensions.

Laser cut ready:

• Overall size: 790 mm × 790 mm square → Fits safely inside your laser bed (90 × 160 cm). No scaling needed, just center it on the bed.
• Layers + structure: Outer hem circle sits within the square → this gives you a full coverage skirt base.
• Kerf slits (the purple concentric staggered lines) → provide the flexibility, stretch, and net-like expansion.
• Spiral waist (blue spiral) → functions as a no-sew closure. You can step into it or tighten around the waist.
• Puzzle notches (green tabs) → allow an optional belt or fastening system to lock the waist. If the spiral opening is too loose, you thread a strip through these notches for security.
• Zero-waste approach. Everything is cut from one square (no external offcuts).
• Spiral waist and notches are integrated into the same sheet → no sewing, no additional hardware required.

Why this works well:

• Square hem: Keeps it practical and makes full use of the 79 × 79 cm material.
• Flexibility
• Laser-friendly: All geometry is vector lines, no overlapping cuts. Outer perimeter is clean.

Next steps for cutting * Export: File → Export Selected → DXF or SVG

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Final outcome

Assembly

The belt:

Skirt with belt

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Kerf Rouge

Variations

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Fabrication files

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1. Laser cut sheets Download ↩

2. Open source fashion ↗ ↩